


Don't Fear the Reaper

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Death, Drowning, Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Found Family, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Post-Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, Pre-Canon, Reaper Julia, Reaper Keats, Sad with a Happy Ending, The Hunger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 01:23:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15450273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: The Raven Queen offered Keats a path to his family's redemption. All he had to do was wait for them. Centuries came and centuries went and still Edward and Lydia didn't come to join him in the Astral Plane. This is his story.





	Don't Fear the Reaper

Keats opened his eyes slowly, almost surprised that he could. He had been expecting darkness, the peace of the Astral Plane. Instead, he found himself looking up at a tall woman seated on an alabaster throne in a hall of black marble. Her hair was dark, almost raven-feather black as it cascaded in curls down her back and framed the bone mask she wore. He wasn't very old, only just barely a teenager, but he knew who she was and so he knelt.

"Rise, Keats. I would speak with you."

Slowly, he got to his feet. It was odd, almost surreal, feeling his body whole and solid and sure under him, his stance steady, and his lungs clear. He could breathe without coughing and no better feeling existed in the world.

"Lady Raven Queen, am I dead?"

She leaned forward and rested a hand under his chin, raising his gaze so he met her eyes.

"You are, my child, and the pain is gone. As I promise to all who pass through my halls, the pain of your life, of your death, is behind you. But, dear Keats, I would speak with you about something very near to your life and make you an offer for your afterlife. I heard your prayers, your concern for your brother and sister."

Keats nodded and his curls bounced with the excited gesture. He fidgeted and then shoved his hands into his pockets, not really sure how he was supposed to behave in front of a goddess.

"Can you help them, Lady Raven Queen? Eddie's been getting so angry lately and I'm scared he's going to do something he'll regret later."

The Raven Queen smiled under her mask.

"You are a sweet child. I wish I could give you what you desire, but your brother and sister have broken my laws. Someday, they will come to me, but until then... Their fate is out of my hands."

Keats' long, expressive ears drooped and his gaze started to drift towards the floor.

"So they are in trouble..."

Again, she tilted his head back up.

"They have made a mistake," she corrected him gently. "They well may make more. But they will come to me someday as all things do. And to that, I would offer you a choice, Keats. You can enter the Sea of Souls to be cleansed of this life and one day move on to the next or you can join my retinue. I have need of someone who can understand, who can speak to those who are within the Eternal Stockade about their reasons, their failings, their lives, and teach them why death is not to be escaped but is instead the natural end of all things, the rest they have earned. Which do you choose, my child?"

For a long moment, Keats was silent, his bright eyes wide. A new life without any traces of the past? Without being sick? Without dying young? But then... without Edward and Lydia. Without all of the good memories. 

"I don't know if I can do it. I'm only a kid, Lady Raven Queen. What if I don't know what to say? What if I do something wrong?"

Her smile grew and she stood.

"That you ask those questions at all speaks volumes of your ability to perform the office. You will do well here, Keats, and I swear to you now that you will see your brother and sister again when they enter my domain. For it will fall to you to show them where they have gone astray."

Keats nodded, a little spark of hope fizzing in his chest now. He would see them again someday. He would see them again and they would get time together before they all went into the Sea of Souls together. Maybe Lady Istus would even be nice and stitch them all back into her tapestry together again.

"Then I'll do it, Lady Raven Queen. And I'll do my very best."

The Raven Queen hugged the child standing before her just briefly and then handed him a scythe.

"Go well, Reaper Keats. Come and I will show you the Eternal Stockade. There are many there who have need of you already."

* * *

Keats had gotten used to walking (and frequently running) through the halls of the Eternal Stockade with his black cloak billowing behind him. Sometimes, he privately thought it made him look a bit like a bat. Or like the vampires from the stories Eddie had told him when he was little to scare him. That was a bit ironic now, he supposed since at least one of his patients was a vampire. The Eternal Stockade was usually quiet, the only sound his own feet on the stone floor. Sometimes, though, the undead within would grow restless or perhaps the footfalls of another Reaper would reach his ears. Today was one of those days. He could hear someone pleading and another voice, annoyed, arguing dispassionately about the laws of death. Keats turned, tugging at his oversized cloak, and ran towards the front door of the Stockade. If someone was pleading, that meant they were new. And if they were new here, he needed to meet them.

Turning the corner, Keats spotted one of the other Reapers ahead with a soul in his grip. Keats was pretty sure the woman was a half-elf and she was sobbing, saying she had to go back, that he didn't understand. Keats sighed. They were usually like that when they first got here. And this Reaper was fairly new compared to Keats, just a century under his belt now. He'd seen the man around a few times but hadn't had a chance to talk to him before now. Usually, they were both busy. Keats stepped up.

"Hello, Kravitz, right? I'm Keats. I can take her if that's alright."

Kravitz looked down at Keats, a surprised look on his face. Keats sighed a little. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew where this was about to go. He hated hated hated when the other Reapers looked at him like that just because they had died as adults and he had died as a kid. Sure, he was twelve, but he had also been a Reaper for longer than most of them had been alive and dead. But then Kravitz surprised him.

"Certainly. Do you need a hand getting her to a cell or can you handle it on your own?"

Keats smiled up at Kravitz and reached for the lich's hand.

"I'd appreciate the help. Especially if you tell me what happened."

* * *

Keats sat down against the wall and turned to smile at Kravitz now that their latest guest was in place. Silence hung between them for a moment before Kravitz sat as well.

"You're very kind to them," Kravitz said it with a hint of confusion. "Why?"

Keats pulled his knees up to his chest and considered. The Raven Queen had said a lot of things about him helping the undead accept death, but she'd never said anything about teaching the Reapers to accept that the people here were just that: people. Maybe that was important too. And if she hadn't thought of it, well, then Keats would just have to do it himself.

"Because they made a mistake. I made mistakes all the time when I was alive and my brother and sister never yelled at me. They explained what I did wrong so I learned better. Just because they're adults and they made a big mistake, maybe even a mistake that hurt people, why would it be any different? Would you like it if I yelled at  _you_?"

Kravitz laughed a little. "No, I guess I wouldn't." Then he looked surprised and brushed his hair behind one short pointed ear. "You're a lot wiser than I would expect someone your age to be."

Keats snorted and raised his head.

"I may only be twelve, but I've been here for centuries."

Silence hung between them for a moment. Then Kravitz looked at the boy again.

"Why?"

Keats tilted his head to the side, confusion written in his eyes and the angle of his ears. 

"Why what?"

"Why stay?"

Slowly, Keats got to his feet and turned so he was facing the hall where the undead he worked with were housed. He didn't like to think of them as prisoners, as being in cells. They were patients, with rooms. It was a subtle thing, but it was important. The other Reapers didn't seem to understand. Keats took a breath and then turned to look at Kravitz again.

"Because I'm waiting for my family. My brother and sister. Our Queen promised me I would see them again if I waited."

Kravitz gazed up at Keats, his expression unreadable.

"Waiting for centuries? I know you're a high elf and all but-"

"They're liches." His voice was soft. "When I was... alive... When I was alive, I got sick and they got scared. Someday, I'll see them again but not until they come here. So that's why I'm staying."

Kravitz sat ramrod straight. Liches? This gentle boy's family were liches? Keats noticed the tension in Kravitz's stance and sighed a little.

"They're in your bounty book. Edward and Lydia. Liches and practicing necromancers."

Kravitz held his hands out and the book appeared, dropping out of the air to settle in his hands. He flipped through it, looking at the early pages. It would be an early one after all. Keats came and sat beside him again, looking at the smiling faces of his brother and sister looking out of the pages that held their bounties.

"Edward and Lydia. Twin high elves. Necromancers. Liches." Kravitz's eyebrows shot up. "It says here you're allowed to take the bounty if you want, Keats. Why haven't you? You could go get them yourself. See them again right now if you wanted to."

Keats shook his head slowly, looking down at his hands.

"I tried once, learning how to reap a soul and collect a bounty. I can't. I just... I keep thinking about the fact that they're a person. And I don't want to hurt anyone. Dying like that, with a Reaper hunting you? It must be scary and it probably hurts. I don't want to put anyone through that. Especially not Eddie and Lili. And how much worse would it be if it was me hunting them?" He shook his head again. "I can't do that. Not to them, not to anybody."

Kravitz frowned, closing the book with a snap.

"And what if no one ever collects their bounty? What then?"

For a moment, panic flashed across Keats' face, his ears flicking back. 

"Someone will. Our Queen promised that I'd see them again. And I will. I know I will."

Kravitz hesitated and then put an arm around Keats' shoulders. 

"Of course. Of course, you will." Kravitz wasn't sure if his words were helping, if his tone was at all convincing, but he didn't want to leave this child without hope. "Maybe someday, I'll take that bounty myself. And... I can try to make sure they're not scared."

He couldn't promise that it wouldn't hurt. Odds were, they would fight. Most liches didn't want to go quietly into that good night, at least not in his experience. Keats leaned into the hug though, smiling.

"Thanks, Kravitz." Keats turned and hugged Kravitz tightly. "Do you really think you can? I looked and I couldn't even find them." Keats looked a little embarrassed. "I... I just wanted to know where they were, to make sure they were okay. But, it's like they disappeared."

That happened sometimes, not terribly often, but sometimes. Usually, it meant a lich's spectral form had been destroyed but sometimes it meant they had found a way to hide. Kravitz returned the hug almost uncertainly, patting Keats' back gently.

"If I can find them."

But he didn't promise more than that. Kravitz honestly wasn't sure he could.

* * *

Keats opened the door to the half-elven woman's room and leaned in, a bright smile on his face.

"Hello again, Winifred! Ready for your first session?"

She was sitting cross-legged on her bed and she scowled at him.

"I don't want to talk to you or any of the other Reapers about anything. Do you hear me, boy?"

Keats closed the door behind him and dropped to sit leaning against the solid wood. He let the hood of his uniform cloak drop and smiled up at the woman still seated on her bed. She sighed and shook her head.

"You're lucky I like you, boy. You're not like the others, you're a sensible one."

He laughed a little and adjusted so he was sitting cross-legged to mirror her. Then he held out his hands and let his book appear in front of him. It dropped from the air and settled lightly in his hands. Flipping to the pertinent page, he smiled up at her.

"So, how have you been doing? Did you do the exercises we talked about last time?"

Winifred sighed and reached for the journal on her nightstand.

"Only because I knew if I didn't, you'd pout at me again."

* * *

Time passed but nothing much changed for Keats. He would frequently spend his free time running his fingers along the page in the bounty book for his brother and sister, staring at the picture of them and wondering what had become of them. Were they still together? Had Edward kept his promises? Was Lydia still kind and gentle? He expanded the scope of his duties as time passed, moving from simply talking to liches and others who had tried to defy death to also helping souls pass on who may not have realized what happened. Which was how he found himself entering the town of Ravens Roost, or what was left of it. The city lay shattered on the ground like so many blocks tumbled down by a giant, careless child, and the soul he was looking for was somewhere in there. Pulling up his hood, Keats walked into the ruins, determined to find her and make certain that her crossing was peaceful, unlike her death.

When he found the collapsed workshop, Keats knew he was in the right place. He could also hear a woman shouting, calling out names of people who couldn't hear her. He pushed aside the broken door and looked at the spirit standing before him. She was beautiful. That was the first thing he realized as she turned towards him. Even with her face bruised and bloody, even with the scar that ran across her nose from a fight long past. Her eyes locked on him as he took another step forward. 

"Excuse me, Ma'am, but are you Julia Burnsides?" He pulled his hood back down now, smiling up at her. "My name is Keats and I came to help you."

She took a step towards him and then hesitated, seeming to realize there was something Other about him. Her eyes narrowed and she took a step back, despite the incongruity of backing away from a twelve-year-old.

"What are you?"

Keats bit his lower lip, considering how best to respond to that. Then he took a breath and sat down. He stayed between her and the door, sure, but he was also staying low where he wouldn't come off as a threat. Then and only then did he speak.

"I'm a servant of the Raven Queen. I'm... I'm really sorry about what happened, but if it helps, I promise that if you come with me, it won't hurt. I would know."

Julia exhaled slowly and looked back for a moment before meeting his eyes again steadily.

"I understand what you're trying to do, but I can't die yet. I'm not... I can't. I need to wait for Magnus."

Keats watched her, biting his lower lip.

"I know but..." Then he changed courses mid-sentence. "Who's Magnus? Why don't you tell me about him?"

Julia raised an eyebrow but she slowly sat down opposite the young boy in front of her.

"My husband, Magnus. He's... Well, if you stick around, you'll get to meet him." She stretched and tried to wipe some of the blood off of her face. It wouldn't budge. "But he's a sweetheart of a man, strong and gentle."

Keats smiled.

"He sounds really nice. Was he here too?"

She shook her head and wiped again at the blood on her face.

"He's off to Neverwinter for a competition. Carpentry. It's a really big deal and we're all so proud of him and..." She frowned at Keats slightly. "He better not be dead, kid."

Throwing his hands up, Keats' eyes went wide.

"No! No, I promise. I honestly don't know anything about him. I'm just... I just wanted to know why you wanted to stay so bad." He fidgeted a little. "Normally when people really want to stay alive, it's because of really big important things and... and talking about it helps, you know? I know... I know I wanted to stay for Eddie and Lili but I couldn't. Staying hurt and staying hurt them."

Julia's expression changed then, softening as she looked at him.

"Who were they?"

Keats ducked his head.

"My big brother and sister. They took care of me my whole life." Talking about this never got easier for him, even with all the centuries between now and then. "You would've liked them a lot, I think. Magnus sounds a lot like my brother." Then he looked up, suddenly excited. "Wait! I've got an idea, but I need to talk to my Queen and... and Kravitz? I think? He's sort of the head Reaper and uh..." He scrambled to his feet and held out his hand. "I can't leave you here though or you'll get in trouble. No accidental death crimes, okay?"

Julia raised an eyebrow and stood but she made no move to take his hand.

"What are you planning?"

For a moment, he bounced on his heels. Then he smiled at her.

"I was sort of thinking that  _maybe_  we could see if you could get the same deal I've got? But yours wouldn't be as long since uh..." Then he blinked, looking at her again. "I mean, I'm just guessing he's human. I probably shouldn't assume but uh..."

Julia laughed at that. 

"He's human alright. A bit of an odd one, but definitely human. What do you mean, same deal?"

Keats had been starting to reach for his scythe and stopped, both hands held out. He let his left hand drop, looking a little sheepish.

"Oh! Um... Serving as a kind of sort of Reaper until my brother and sister come to the Astral Plane. Then there's no broken laws of life and death and you can still wait for him. And I could sort of use the help with what I do... If my Queen agrees, I mean."

Julia looked him over and then finally turned back, looking at the shattered ruin of her home, at the place where the rooftree had fallen in when the workshop had collapsed, at the shadowed place under the beams. Closing her eyes for a moment, she was silent in bitter regret for what could have been. Then she turned around to face him again.

"Tell me more about this job of yours, Keats."

* * *

Julia and Keats were sitting at a table in the house she'd been quietly, carefully constructing. There was a small cake on the table between them, a single lit candle in the center, and Julia had just moved to cut slices of it when Kravitz walked in the door looking utterly exhausted. 

"Happy Candlenights, Kravitz!" Keats bounced excitedly in his seat. "Look! Julia showed me how to make a cake!"

Kravitz dropped into the empty seat and Julia set a slice on the plate that had been waiting there.

"How'd the Miller bounty go?"

Kravitz picked up a fork and groaned.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Keats was already digging into his own slice, cramming chocolate cake into his mouth excitedly. He looked up at Kravitz's words and his ears flicked up.

"What happened? What was he doing? Did it have to do with the really really big pile of souls that tried to escape today? I saw them in the Eternal Stockade. One of my patients was in there, I think."

Kravitz sighed and took a bite of the cake. He smiled slightly, closing his eyes to savor it. 

"This is delicious. You'd really never baked before?"

"Never had an oven before. Now answer the question, Krav!"

Julia laughed and reached into the ice chest for the jug of milk so she could pour a glass for both of them. Setting a glass in front of Keats, she took her own chair and leaned on one hand.

"Yeah, Kravitz, what went so sideways?"

Kravitz scrubbed at his face for a long moment and then held his hands out for his bounty book. Flipping through it, he pointed at one page that had an image of a brightly smiling human man in a red jacket emblazoned with the letters IPRE in a small blue circle. Julia leaned across the table, shock in her eyes. 

"Magnus? What the hell did my idiot husband do now?"

Kravitz rubbed his temples and set the book on the table.

"I don't know but his friends are dumb. Even the cute elf."

Julia turned the book towards her, skimming it quickly.

"Death crimes? Dying without visiting the Astral Plane...  _how many times?_ He never mentioned any of this. And I've never seen that jacket."

Keats' ears drooped as he studied her face.

"It's okay, maybe... maybe it was just something that happened to him and not something he did? That can happen, right?"

Kravitz took a long sip from his glass of milk.

"It doesn't matter either way. He beat me at cards so I've left the three of them alone. Our Queen is looking into it and the bounties may well be revoked. But still. It was the single most frustrating day in my entire afterlife and I didn't get a single one of the bounties. All I managed was bringing everyone back to the Eternal Stockade who had broken out. And even then, these three did most of it."

Julia flipped to the next page where two bounties sat side by side, a pair of twin high elves.

"So, which one are you crushing on so badly you gave up on a bounty. Taako or Lup?" She skimmed the pages. "Part of me wants to hold out hope for the irony of you falling for a lich, but I'm betting it's the other one. He looks your type."

Kravitz sighed.

"The other one. Taako. And I am  _not_  crushing." He paused then. "What do you mean he looks my type? I have a type?"

Julia took a bite of cake, chewing it slowly and deliberately. Then she smiled.

"I mean tacky. He looks tacky. Also kind of like a nerd."

Keats leaned over to look at the pictures and smiled.

"She looks really cool. Lup, I mean. When you collect that bounty, can I work with her?"

Kravitz smiled at him.

"Absolutely, assuming we can find her. It's been a decade since the bounties came in and I haven't even gotten a whiff of a location for her."

Julia topped off the milk in Keats' cup and shrugged.

"Well, we can figure that out another day. But tonight is Candlenights and we're going to celebrate. Even if Kravitz was too gay to do his job."

"HEY!"

* * *

Keats slammed Kravitz's door open and started laughing when he saw the other Reaper fast asleep in the clothes he'd been wearing the night before. Keats bounced onto the bed next to him, still laughing.

"How'd your  _date_  go, Krav?"

Kravitz groaned and sat up slowly, eyes flicking briefly to the lopsided vase sitting on his nightstand.

"It wasn't a date, Keats. We were discussing serious matters involving the fate of hundreds of souls and-" Kravitz took one look at the grinning twelve-year-old sitting next to him, ears sticking straight up in excitement, and sighed. "Alright...  _fine._ Yes. It was great. It was fantastic. I really like him a lot. He's very attractive, very smart, and far deeper than I would have given him credit for. And, so help me, I don't plan on telling you a single word more."

Keats lay back into the pile of pillows and started laughing while Kravitz looked more and more indignant. 

"Keats!"

That only made the boy laugh even harder and he grabbed one of the pillows to throw at Kravitz.

"You're gonna  _kiss_  him, aren't you? You're gonna kiss Taako even though he's a death criminal because you think he's cute!"

Kravitz caught the pillow and flung it back at Keats.

"Stop it, you insufferable child!"

But his words had no heat to them and he was laughing too hard to be taken seriously. The door opened again, Julia leaning against the frame.

"So, good date then?"

Kravitz grabbed the pillow back from Keats and flung it at Julia. It caught her off-guard and she tried to dodge. Instead, she fell forward through a rift with the pillow in her hands. She chucked it back at Kravitz as he laughed.

* * *

Keats woke up in a cold sweat and looked around his small room from where he had been trancing in the corner. It was dark in the Astral Plane, unusually so. Out of habit, he reached for his connection to his Queen, seeking her comfort. Instead, he found a gaping hole, an emptiness where presence and familiarity should be. Reaching out, he tried to summon his scythe and nothing came to him. Keats scrambled to his feet and ran for the door, shouting at the top of his lungs for Kravitz, for Julia, for anyone. He slammed the door open and ducked on pure instinct as a tendril of darkness shot in through his bedroom window. He skidded across the stones and stuck out one hand to try and catch himself. Then the tendril wrapped around his leg and pulled him back.

"KRAVITZ!"

He was screaming at the top of his lungs, tears on his cheeks as he clawed at the floor, the door frame, the window frame, anything he could maybe potentially get a grip on. His fingers slipped and he was pulled down in the oily pool over the surface of the Sea of Souls. The darkness closed over him as he screamed and panic seized him. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe and he was alone and it was dark and he couldn't breathe and he wanted to scream but he had no air. In that irrational, terrified moment when he forgot that he had long since died, Keats screamed not the named of his fellow Reapers. No. When darkness pulled him under into nothingness, he cried for Edward and Lydia, begging them to come to save him like they had so many times before, so long ago.

* * *

When the sapphire gate to the Astral Plane was opened, Keats stumbled out into the dim light of Faerun and saw Kravitz running towards Taako. He pulled away, looking around for something he could do here. Gods, this was a war for the world and he didn't know how he could help. A man stood nearby though, one he recognized from the book of bounties, from the strange vision they'd all shared, and he grinned.

"Barry Bluejeans, right? Don't suppose you've got any ideas for how one pint-sized Reaper could help out, do you?"

Barry nodded once.

"I've got a few ideas, depending on what uh... what you're down for." He looked over at Legion where the assemblage of souls was striding towards the Hunger. "Assuming you don't need to uh... babysit that thing."

Keats shook his head and nodded towards Kravitz, who was oblivious to the world, his arms around Taako.

"That's his job. I'm not even sure how I got out of the slime. So, I'm free and clear and ready to reap some shit."

"Language, Keats." Julia stepped up behind him, a scythe propped on her shoulder casually. "Hey there, Bluejeans. I'm Julia. If you've got a plan, point me and the kid at it. We've got this."

Barry grinned, trying to ignore how odd it was for him in this moment, working with three Reapers and a pile of souls from the Eternal Stockade.

"Okay, so the top priority is keeping as many people safe as possible and I know that sort of goes against your whole... Reaper gig thing, but uh... We've got folks in most of the major cities and... Oh fuck, Neverwinter."

Julia and Keats exchanged a look and Keats summoned his own scythe, smiling up at Barry.

"It's okay, Mr. Bluejeans. I'm not that kind of Reaper. I'm a therapist." He slashed a rift in the air, the city of Neverwinter showing on the other side. "Come on, Julia, I bet we can do something to help."

Julia paused for just a moment, looking at Barry.

"Tell Magnus... Tell Magnus Julia says hello and that I love him." When Barry's eyes widened, she grinned. "And tell him that I'd better not see him for a good long time."

Then she turned and stepped through the portal, yelling for Keats to wait for her, dammit.

* * *

There were people who called it Judgment day, who called it the end of the world. There were those who called it the Day of Story and Song. To Keats though, it would always be the day he lost one family and gained another. 

With the battle won and the world moving in to clean up after a collective sigh of relief, Kravitz had sought out Keats with a sense of urgency born on the wings of what Taako had fleetingly told him. Wonderland. Edward. Lydia. All of it was gone. Just... gone. And Kravitz couldn't let Keats find out from someone who didn't understand, from someone who didn't know how important the twins had been to their baby brother who had lived for them, died for them, and spent centuries living a second life for them. And now? They were simply gone.

"Keats!"

The boy turned, dismissing his scythe at the sound of Kravitz's voice. There was a smile on his face as he ran towards him.

"Kravitz! Krav! We won! We did it! Did you see? I fought and Julia said I did alright! I didn't even have to reform once!"

Keats threw himself at Kravitz and hugged him tightly. Kravitz didn't even falter, returning the hug tightly.

"I'm so proud of you." Kravitz closed his eyes, a surge of emotion rushing through him. "Keats, there's something I need to tell you and... and I know it's not the right time. But there never will be a right time. There never is."

Keats pulled back just slightly and looked up at Kravitz, worry in his eyes.

"Julia's okay, right? And... and you're okay? And..."

Kravitz cut him off.

"We're all fine, Keats. I promise, I'm fine, and Julia already went back to the Astral Plane to make sure Legion gets separated out properly again. But... Keats, you remember... Wonderland, right?" Keats nodded and Kravitz swallowed, trying to ignore the mounting worry in the little boy's eyes. "They're... they're gone. Keats, I'm so sorry. But... their lich forms were destroyed and..."

Keats just stared at him for a long moment and then he buried his face in Kravitz's chest, sobbing brokenly as he finally mourned the family he'd left behind so long ago. He didn't weep for the Liches of Wonderland. No, he wept for strong, kind Edward who had lifted him on his shoulders and gave him the sky and taught him never to be afraid. He wept for gentle, loving Lydia who had held his hand and put bandages on his cuts and taught him to love completely and fully. 

"Wh-what happened?" Keats sniffed and wiped his face on his the sleeve of his oversized robe. "Was it the... the Hunger?"

Kravitz wasn't certain at that moment whether he should lie or tell the truth. Which would hurt more? Which would jeopardize his plans for the future? Then he met Keats' eyes again and knew what he had to do.

"You know they were hurting people, don't you?" Keats nodded again. "They... tried it on adventurers that were too strong for them, Keats. And when it came to a fight..."

It hurt. Kravitz could see that. But at least it wasn't a lie. At least this way, if someone told the true story...

Keats nodded a little. He did understand on some level. He had known that Edward and Lydia had turned into someone else after all these centuries, that they had changed and been twisted. But he had hoped for so long that someday, he would get to help set them right and help them heal and now? Now they would never see the peace of the Astral Plane.

"I think Our Queen would understand if you wanted to-"

"I'm staying with you, Kravitz." Keats cut him off, hugging him tightly again. "You can't get rid of me that easy."

* * *

Keats burst into the room, excitement on his face. The new Reapers were starting today and he got to handle their orientation this time. And it was so exciting. He'd never gotten to do that before, plus they were two of the seven birds AND they were liches. Real, actual liches who had agreed to come serve his Queen and it was going to be so exciting getting to work with them and-

He looked up and found himself face to face with a smiling high elven woman. She held out a hand to steady him as he stumbled.

"Hey there, little dude, what's the rush?"

Keats stood up straighter and smiled brightly.

"I'm here to handle your Reaper orientation. I'm Keats."

Barry moved up to stand next to Lup, putting an arm around her waist.

"Nice to see you again, Keats. How've you been?"

Oh yes, working with these two was going to be great. He knew it already.

* * *

Lup opened the rift into the house and pushed Keats slightly when he didn't immediately budge.

"Come on, little dude, don't wanna keep everybody waiting, now do you?"

Keats glanced back up at her and then stepped through the rift into the bustling chaos that was Merle's house. Taako had taken over the kitchen, producing dozen upon dozen of cookies, cakes and pies to the ceiling, and delicious smelling appetizers. Kravitz was already there, lingering near Taako while they quietly flirted. Barry was there too, sitting in a corner with Angus on one side and Mavis on the other as he explained some finer point of arcane theory or another. Or maybe it was physics this time. Sometimes, it was hard to tell with those three. Magnus had a new litter of puppies with him, including one small one he was carrying around. They were, he explained to anyone who would listen, far too small to be out of his sight for long. Especially little Johann. Merle himself was on the porch with Davenport, playing some card game Keats had never seen or heard of. Both of them seemed to be enjoying it, quietly reminiscing about things they'd done and places they'd been. Lucretia was inside, having tucked herself away with a glass of wine and a sketchbook where she could hopefully see the others without Taako or Davenport being too upset by her presence. Just because Candlenights was about family, that didn't mean that hers was excited to see her just yet.

Lup rested a hand on Keats' shoulder and guided him into the kitchen.

"S'up, Ghost Rider. Just got back from picking up the baby brother." Keats grinned at Kravitz and reached for a cookie from the table. "Were you seriously gonna leave him there? It's Candlenights, my dude."

Taako turned away from the oven, setting another batch of cookies to cool.

"Don't ruin your supper. Or if you're gonna, at least grab the fucking butter thumbprint cookies. They've got that raspberry jam I've been working on and they're basically the best ever, natch."

Keats popped another chocolate cookie into his mouth and grinned, speaking past the cookie.

"Bu' I 'ike choc'ate be'er, Taa'o."

Taako threw his hands in the air but he ended up piling three more of the chocolate cookies onto a napkin along with a butter cookie and pressing it into Keats' hands. Keats laughed and held the bundle close, running off to go talk to Angus and Mavis again. Lup leaned against the counter, watching him go, and then turned to smile at Taako.

"So, you know we've got a little brother now, right, 'Ko?"

Taako went back to stirring his sauce, taking a moment to taste it.

"Yeah, I know, Lu', I know. And he's a good kid. Good thing he's ours now."

He glanced out into the living room just in time to see Keats drop down to sit in front of Barry, startling the man. All three kids were laughing now, eagerly asking questions about something, and Taako smiled. Happy Candlenights, indeed.


End file.
